Fitness, Family, & Social Activities Drive Sports Participation

Date: 3/18/09

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 18, 2009 – While the American economy is suffering, many sports, fitness, and recreation activities are growing in popularity. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s Sports & Fitness Participation Report (2009 edition), a number of activities in the U.S. are on the upswing as participation is growing.

“The importance of daily physical activity is as important now as it has ever been,” said SGMA President Tom Cove. “While millions of Americans are impacted by uncertainty in the workplace and the overall economy, their interest in playing sports, working out, and getting regular exercise remains strong.”

Despite the dip in the economy, sports and activities that had ‘statistically significant’ growth from 2007 to 2008 were either fitness or family/social activities that don’t cost much money to play. Fitness activities which had ‘statistically significant’ growth in 2008 over 2007 were step aerobics (up 21.0%), high impact aerobics (up 8.7%), low impact aerobics (up 7.9%), elliptical motion trainers (up 7.2%), dumbbells (up 6.2%), and walking for fitness (up 2.7%). Walking for fitness, by the way, is the most popular activity in the U.S. in with 111.7 million participants.

Since 2000, a number of fitness activities, competitive sports, and recreational endeavors have shown ‘statistically significant’ growth – especially in the fitness category.

Sports and Fitness Activities with the Highest Growth Rates Since 2000
(age 6 and above; U.S. residents; source: SGMA)

Rank/Sport

2008 Participation

Growth Rate Since 2000

1. Pilates Training

8,886,000

471%

2. Elliptical Motion Trainer

25,284,000

243%

3. Lacrosse

1,127,000

117%

4. Stretching

36,288,000

47%

5. Tennis

18,558,000

43%

6. Spinning

6,693,000

42%

7. Table Tennis

17,201,000

35%

8. Paintball

4,857,000

34%

9. Treadmill

49,371,000

32%

10. Running/Jogging

41,130,000

31%

While six of those top ten growth activities are related to fitness (aerobic, conditioning, and strength), it’s not the only popular sports category as Americans remain very interested in all athletic and recreational endeavors.

Team Sports: The top three most popular team sports are basketball (26.3 million), baseball (15.0 million), and outdoor soccer (14.2 million).

Water Sports: The top two growth activities in overall participation (2007 vs. 2008) are surfing (up 18.2% to 2.6 million participants) and snorkeling (up 10.8% to 10.3 million participants).

Individual Sports: Since 2000, the top growth sport for overall participation is bowling (up 12.9% to 58.7 million). The top three activities for overall participation are bowling, billiards/pool (49.0 million), and golf (27.6 million).

“While the news of this ever-present interest in all sports and exercise activities is encouraging, too many Americans still need to make exercise a daily priority. Right now, too many Americans are inactive which is leading to an obesity problem in this country,” SGMA President/CEO Tom Cove. “For those who may not be attracted to a gym-like environment, there’s exists a wide variety of choices when it comes to choosing a sport, athletic outlet, or recreational pursuit.”

According to SGMA, the sports and activities with the highest levels of interest among ‘core’ participants in 2008 are fitness-related as fitness activities account for 11 out of the top 15 athletic pursuits.

Most Popular Sports and Fitness Activities Based on ‘Core’ Participation
(age 6 and above; U.S. residents; source: SGMA)

Rank/Sport

2008 Participation

'Core' Level of Frequency

1. Walking for Fitness

76,375,000

50+ Days/ Year

2. Treadmill

28,109,000

50+ Days/ Year

3. Stretching

27,619,000

50+ Days/ Year

4. Hand Weights

26,927,000

50+ Days/ Year

5. Weight/Resistance Machines

23,469,000

50+ Days/ Year

6. Running/Jogging

23,402,000

50+ Days/ Year

7. Dumbells

22,577,000

50+ Days/ Year

8. Freshwater Fishing

21,415,000

8+ Days/Year

9. Bicycling (Road/Paved Surface)

19,950,000

26+ Days/Year

10. Billiards/Pool

17,178,000

13+ Days/Year

11. Basketball

17,672,000

13+ Days/Year

12. Barbells

17,318,000

50+ Days/ Year

13. Home Gym Exercise

14,910,000

50+ Days/ Year

14. Elliptical Motion Trainer

13,556,000

50+ Days/ Year

15. Bowling

13,482,000

13+ Days/Year

While fitness is the industry’s leading overall participation category, many Americans initially get introduced to athletics through team sports.

Leading Team Sports Based on ‘Core’ Participants
(age 6 and above; 2008 participants; U.S. residents; source: SGMA)

This year’s study has been done as a joint effort of the USA Sports & Fitness Participation Study, a collaboration of sports associations that have been doing participation research separately for a number of years: Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, Tennis Industry Association, National Golf Foundation, IHRSA, Snowsports Industries America, and the Outdoor Industry Foundation.

During late January/early February of 2009, a total of 41,500 online interviews were carried out with a nationwide sample of individuals and households from the U.S. Online Panel operated by Synovate. A total of 15,013 individual and 26,487 household surveys were completed. The total panel has over one million members and is maintained to be representative of the U.S. population. Over sampling of ethnic groups took place to boost response from typically under responding groups. A weighting technique was used to balance the data to reflect the total U.S. population aged six and above. The following variables were used: gender, age, income, household size, region, and population density. The total population figure used was 279,568,000 people aged six and above.

The online methodology allows for re-contacting specific groups of sports participants such as frequent runners or home gym users for follow-up consumer targeted research. Individuals who have recently stopped playing or participating can also be targeted for follow-up interviews. This provides the opportunity for companies to develop deeper consumer research in areas including brand tracking, point-of-purchase influences, purchase frequencies and usage/attitude studies.

Companies will also have the ability to do PRIZM analysis, a lifestyle segmentation system consisting of 66 unique marketing segments intended to help marketers better understand and target their customers. The segments are derived through a statistical analysis of several factors, including age, income, presence of children and ‘urbanicity.’

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), the #1 source for sport and fitness research, is the leading global trade association of manufacturers, retailers, and marketers in the sports products industry. SGMA helps lead the sports and fitness industries by fostering participation through research, thought leadership, product promotion, and public policy. More information about SGMA membership, SGMA's Sports Research Partnership, and SGMA's National Health Through Fitness Day can be found at www.SGMA.com.